Holyoke rallies for championship against Northampton in Jack Troy Summer League

Dave RobackHolyoke's David Soto, left, drives to the hoop as Jared Newmann of Northampton defends in the finals of the Jack Troy basketball finals held Thursday evening at Sci-Tech in Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD – David Soto is hoping Holyoke’s success in the Jack Troy Summer Basketball League will carry over to the high school season.

Soto scored a game-high 28 points and Holyoke knocked down 11, 3-pointers, to rally for a 77-75 win over defending champion Northampton on Thursday night at Sci-Tech.

Northampton led by as many as 11 in the first half and went into the break with 37-31 lead. That lead was eight midway through the second half, but Holyoke roared back with a 15-3 run putting Holyoke on top. They never trailed again.

“This just shows we’re tough,” Soto said. “In past years, we’d get down about it and lose by 20 or 30. We just tried to show we aren’t going to let that happen and that we’re going to play hard.”

The Holyoke High School team had fallen on hard times since winning the Western Massachusetts Division I title in 2007. The Knights had just eight wins in 2008 and only five the next season, missing the tournament both years.

Last year, Holyoke made a return to the post season with 11 wins but fell in the first round of the tournament. Soto said he hopes more improvements are on the way.

“We’ve had a couple of tough years but we’re trying to get back where we were,” Soto said. “If we keep working like we are, we definitely will be.”

Defeating Northampton, the high school team that has had the most wins in Western Massachusetts over the last three years, is a good start.

Jared Neumann got Northampton off to a good start Thursday night, scoring twice in an 11-0 run that gave Northampton a 27-18 lead. The lead went as high as 11 on Grant Cooper’s basket.

T. J. Devane’s steal and layup followed by Neumann’s putback gave Northampton the first four points of the second half and a 41-31 lead.

“The second half we got kind of lazy and stopped playing help D and that gave them wide open penetration with dishes and that’s what they hit all game long,” Neumann said.

Down 10, Holyoke went on a 13-2 run to take the lead, Soto starting it with a 3-pointer and Eddie Rodriguez (21 points) and Austin Keeler (14) finishing it with back-to-back 3-pointers.

Northampton bounced back with a 9-0 run, Cooper (20 points) scoring off his own miss then swiping a pass and scoring at the rim to finish the run and give Northampton a 52-44 edge.

The lead was six when Holyoke made another run, this time at the rim. Rodriguez scored on a pair of layups and Keeler and Soto did as well. Single free throws by Soto and Chris Rivera completed the 10-0 run.

A 3-pointer by Pat Dickert tied the game at 62-62, but when Rodriguez converted a 3-point play and Keeler hit another 3-pointer, Holyoke had its largest lead, 68-62, with two minutes, 35 seconds left.

Northampton trimmed it to one a couple of times, but Holyoke did not give up the lead, a sign that Holyoke may well be a contender the next high school season.

“We played hard, we played as a team and we deserved it,” Soto said. “I guess Holyoke is back.”